Salted Chocolate and Sour Cream Cake

February 6, 2011

I was chatting with my sister (Miss Sassy Pants) this weekend and she complained that I had too many dessert recipes on my blog for it being a “health food” blog. I disagreed and, in fact, noticed that it had been a good while since I posted something sweet. I know I’ve said before that I’m NOT a baker, but I was feeling adventurous and wanted to annoy my lil sis. I apologize in advance for the decadence of this post.

A classic chocolate cake seemed to fit the bill. I perused a few of my recipe books, looking for something easy to make that didn’t require a grocery run. I didn’t find exactly what I wanted, so I made up my own recipe- and it actually worked!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 whole wheat pastry flour

1/3 cup unsweetened coca powder

5 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup sour cream

a pinch or two of course salt (like kosher salt or sea salt)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Crack eggs into a large mixing bowl.

Add the sugar to the eggs and whisk together until the mix is fluffy.

Add in the flour and cocoa powder to the egg mixture and beat together until well blended.

Add the sour cream and gently fold it into the batter.

Pour the batter into a well-greased baking pan. I used a glass, brownie pan because I have no decent bake ware (and no room to store it in my tiny D.C. apartment). But you could definitely use a cake pan or baking pan of any sort.

It’s ok if you make a mess.

Just be sure not to let any batter go to waste.

Sprinkle a bit of salt on top to contrast the sweetness. I love salted desserts but if you’re not a fan, you could skip this step. A little salt goes a long way, so don’t over do it.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

After sampling a bit or two, I determined that the cake tasted moist and perfectly lovely. But, why not make it even better? So, I whipped up a chocolate butter cream icing out of sheer gluttony.

To make the icing, cream together a half stick of butter (at room temperature) with about a 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder. Add more sugar and cocoa if the mix is too thin. If it’s too thick, you can add a splash of milk to thin it out. Experiment a bit and you’ll get the hang of it.

Ice the cake once it has cooled completely. I frosted my cake one piece at a time (I’m picky like that), but feel free to ice the entire thing at once.

Omg! I just made this and it is so delicious! I specifically bought a cake pan because your recipe inspired me to bake Baking for 20 minutes was not enough and I baked it for another 10 min. Maybe that was too long? Not sure, still a novice at baking. Thanks for sharing such a yummy recipe!

Thank you so much for your feedback! I’m so pleased you liked the recipe. Sounds like you did the right thing baking it off for another 10 minutes. As I recall, I let mine sit in the oven a few extra minutes as well. Always better to undercook a bit and add time, rather than over do it. So glad to hear you had good results. Thanks again for writing. You made my day!